I grew up on a Morgan Horse Farm in Rockland , Maine, and have been involved with Arabian horses for the past 30 years. In 1963, after the military and working at a Shetland Pony farm and at an all breeds show horse stable in New Hampshire, I moved to the Chicago area to find work that would support my wife and two sons. I found two Arabian horse farms and a good job with a large candy company almost simultaneously.

           Visiting the Babson farm outside Dixon Illinois and George Searles farm in Batavia Illinois became my weekend horse fix. The two breeding programs were very similiar; however, the Searles were breeding BLUE STAR Arabians, a program promoted by the Ott family, which was based on the theories of Carl Raswan. George Searle referred to himself as a purist breeder. He never missed an opportunity to talk about the "BLUE" Arabians or to influence the sale of the Blue Arabian Horse Catalog (BAHC).

           Since I had already been exposed to "blending" of American Saddlebred and Thoroughbred bloodlines into the Morgan breed, the BLUE concept of breeding pure Arabians fell right into place. The Morgan breeders were trying to develop a larger and finer horse, (perhaps a better a horse for the show ring) since the age of automation was changing the role of horses. In the late 1940's there was considerable talk about breeding purebred Morgans to purebred Morgans. In 1947, Marilyn Carlson, an associate editor for the AMERICAN HORSEMAN, wrote:

"What is a Morgan? What standards are there for Morgans? How can the public know what a real Morgan is--there is no logical rating of Morgans from one show to another. The Morgan Horse Club is not alone in its problems, for many experimental breeders have mixed the Arabian with other blood to such an extent, that many of those so-called registered animals are as far from strict type as many Morgans are from their type."

Planned breedings have changed the standard of perfection over the years and some very magnificient animals have been developed in Morgan and Arabian horses, however, saving the original mold is also a very popular trend.

           I met a lot of interesting people at the Searles; however, my exposure to this type of Arabian really began when I met Diana Marston and her family around 1964. Diana worked with the Ott family on the Blue Catalog, and Jane Lewellyn Ott gave her a lot of credit for the meticulous and dedicated research work she did on that project. Her enthusiasm about the BLUE STAR desertbred horses was overwhelming. Diana was a firm believer in and an advocate of, replacement breeding. She urged breeders to breed blood source to blood source, breeding within established breeding groups and matching family strains to strains. Interestingly enough she even encouraged the preservation of the Skowronek (Polish) bloodlines among BLUE STARs because they had become so rare that they were threatened with extinction. She even pleaded with Skowronek breeders to list (catalog) their horses. At a very young age , she was publishing statistics that showed "BLUE STAR and Blue list" horses were in a decline. She also published many articles on preservation and replacement breeding and on "Blue" horses in the Breeders Service Bulletin-- the predecessor of today's Khamsat. On a regular basis, she participated in seminars and presentations on that subject in the Al Khamsa organization. As a matter of fact, it was Diana and her mother Signe, who coined the name "Al Khamsa".

           It was also Diana, who introduced me to Sally and Bill Bond. They were thinking about purchasing Blue Arabians. She and George Searle provided us with what seemed like an endless list of of Arabian Breeders. We visited farms at every opportunity: Cravers, Forbis, Cobbs, Schimanski, Davis, Maxwell and Babson to mention a few Blue breeders; and often we filled in with visits to Lasma, Gaineys, Friendship and Heritage Hills. The Bonds decided on a BLUE STAR breeding program and were the original Hisani Arabians. At the Bonds there was constant discussion about new sire lines in BLUE STARs. They lost no time breeding to the BLUE STAR stallions JALUM AL UBAYAN and FURTHA DHELLAL, both imported by the Cobbs in the late 60's.

           When Douglas Marshall imported the Egyptian stallion *Ibn Hafiza around 1970, I was one of the first people Diana called. She was just about as excited as I have ever heard her. She said, "He has no Muniqi blood (the difference between BLUE STAR and Blue List horses), if only Mrs Ott will declare him a BLUE STAR!" Well, that never happened. The last Blue Catalog supplement was in l969. Diana was the driving force that kept me involved in Blue Cataloged horses. She also encouraged me to consider a breeding program of BLUE STAR with *Ibn Hafiza bloodlines. A few years before her untimely death, she called me about a young stallion who had BLUE STAR (*FADL-*TURFA- SIRECHO and *MUHAIRA) and *Ibn Hafiza exclusively.The breeding program that I have today is the result of conversations and correspondence and a thirty year friendship.

           By now we had already relocated back home to Maine, but as soon as I had signed the real estate papers on what we had named Hisani Farm, I was trying to locate the foundation mares of Hisani Arabians. Again Diana directed me to those horses and the owner of the triple *Ibn Hafiza stallion. We were soon the owners of a planned breeding program.

           I liked this young stallion, SAR Casure Star, so much that within two years we had acquired his dam(Halan Laili), her full sister (Zarif Katun), and a their half sister( Salila Hafiza-on lease). We have practised some intense inbreeding with good results. Our horses are larger in size than the same group without *Ibn Hafiza, plus they still retain the strong Egyptian influence. There is no question in my mind that this unique breeding group should become a program for future breeders within these selected bloodlines. We anxiously await future generations.

           In addition to our program, SAR Casure Star, has produced very nice progeny when bred to non-Al Khamsa mares of Crabbet and Polish bloodlines. His Abbayan/Saglawi strain characteristics have also passed on quite well.

           We love to show off our beautiful Arabians and talk about their unique history, so if you are ever in Maine stop and visit us.

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